June 22, 2010
Buy 2010 Season Tickets Starting at $125
Vanderbilt linebacker Chris Marve continued to rack up preseason accolades Tuesday, getting named to the prestigious Bronco Nagurski Trophy Watch List. The award is given at the end of each season to the nation’s best defensive player by the Football Writers Association of America and the Charlotte Touchdown Club.
Marve, a redshirt junior, is the first SEC player in a decade to post over 100 tackles as a freshman and sophomore and enters his junior season as the conference’s top returning tackler. In 2009, his 121 tackles were the second-highest in the conference, and his 57 solo tackles were the best on the Commodores. He notched double-digit tackles in 7 of 12 games, including a career-best 18-tackle performance against Georgia Tech on Oct. 31. For his efforts, he was awarded the team’s Captain Award and Most Valuable Linebacker Award after the season, and he was also named Second Team All-SEC.
In two years, Marve has started all 25 games at inside linebacker and already recorded 226 tackles, including 13 for loss, four sacks and seven forced fumbles. In 2008, Marve was a First Team Freshman All-American and First Team All-SEC Freshman after his superb defensive play helped lead the Commodores to their first bowl appearance in 26 years.
Marve continues a tradition of top defensive players to come out of Vanderbilt. Former Commodores Patrick Benoist and Ryan Hamilton were also added to the Nagurski watchlist in the 2008 season for outstanding performances in victories over South Carolina and Ole Miss.
The Nagurski watchlist is one of numerous pre-season honors bestowed upon Marve. He was named First Team All-SEC by Athlon Sports and Blue Ribbon magazine and Second Team All-SEC in Phil Steele’s College Football 2010 preview.
The Commodores open their 2010 season by hosting Northwestern from the Big Ten Conference on Saturday, Sept. 4. Kickoff has not been announced.
Besides Northwestern, Vanderbilt’s seven-game home schedule includes SEC games with LSU, Sept. 11; South Carolina, Oct. 23; Florida, Nov. 6; and Tennessee, Nov. 20. The Commodores also play two other non -SEC home games: Eastern Michigan on Oct. 9 and Wake Forest on Nov. 27.
Season tickets starting at $125 per seat are available via the internet at vucommodores.com, by phone at (615) 322-GOLD, or at the ticket office in McGugin Center, 2601 Jess Neely Drive.
